Saturday, 30 June 2012

After five years of legendary parties in Manchester, which have hosted many of today's biggest hitters' debut appearances in the rainy city, and a room 3 takeover at Fabric, the Youngsta- and Mala-certified Hit&Run crew are taking charge of Corsica Studios for their first solo venture in the capital. Headlining duties on the night will be taken on by three long-time friends and associates of the night, each bringing their own original styles to the dance: Riz MC - a familiar face from cult films such as Four Lions and, more recently, Ill Manors - with his fuming social commentaries; Exit Records boss, pioneering minimal drum & bass producer, and insistent boundary-pusher, dBridge; and UK garage don, cum-dubstep 'inventor', cum-Swamp 81 protege Zed Bias.

To add to this, the night will be hosting something of a showcase of Manchester talent; as a night known for a breaking rising talent, it seems fitting that Hit&Run should bring with them Skittles, Biome and Chimpo: three artists who have all been making major waves over the last year, and who all cut their performing teeth at Hit&Run. For more information on the night simply head over here, to the Facebook event page.

For the chance to win a pair of guestlist tickets to see all of this, and for a taste of that inimitable Hit&Run style, simply send your answer to the following question to hedmuk@gmail.com with the subject 'Hit&Run Competition', and your full name for the guestlist:

What is the catalogue number for Zed Bias's 'Stubborn Phase EP', released on Swamp 81 in December of last year?

The competition will close on July 5th, on which date a winner will be chosen by an independent third party and both announced on the Hedmuk Facebook Page and informed via email.

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Coming with suggestions of a UK funky workout for the infamous Jamaican acapella, Widowmaker's version rolls in on skippy rim-shots, crashes and flattened kicks; the soundsystem siren and reverberated vocal soon invites a deeper, lurching movement however, and as the first verse is set on its way the tune tips its hat to the raw subject and swing of the original bashment recording. This, more so than Coki's or, before that, Smut's reworking, has a definite sense of the dancehall roots from which it comes and adds to this the weight and space of dubstep.

Friday, 15 June 2012

With an emphasis on atmosphere, DCult builds beats which carry a sense of mood. Important here is not only the mood but the building process itself, as each tune is meticulously constructed along a pseudo-narrative plane: each part of the beat is simultaneously informing and informed by that which is arranged around it, and the result is progression. It is perhaps this characteristic of DCult's productions that have made them a firm choice for leading DJs within dubstep, such as N-Type and Youngsta; these are original, hard-working, DJ-friendly tunes in the best possible way. This feature has long been in the pipeline, and has been well worth waiting for, we're sure you will agree...

Hedmuk: To introduce yourself, what's your name, where do you come from and how would you describe your sound?

H: Do you consider yourself as a coming from a musical background, or was it something your discovered yourself? What was it that made you want to start producing, and had you been involved with other musical projects before focussing on DCult?

D: I wouldn't say I'm from a musical background as neither of my parents play an instrument or have ever been involved in music but it was definitely them that steered me in the direction of it. When I was at primary school I learnt some brass instruments and the piano which was all down to my parents paying for the tuition, and when I started secondary school I learnt guitar which I really got involved with off my own bat as I'd all ways wanted to be able to play. I went on to do a music tech course as I wanted to learn about recording live music and live sound, and it was there that I got into producing.

I'd always been into hip-hop but it wasnt until I started at college that I got involved with MCs who were recording their own tracks, making the beats and then recording the vocals in the studio we had. I started trying out the software at the studio, sampling vinyl for drums and loops and putting beats together; before long I was handing beats to the MCs at college. My main focus up until producing dubstep was hip-hop, and I still make the occasional beat and they will be showing up on a few albums.

H: You have close ties with Demon's M.U.D imprint; how did you get involved with the label, and how did it feel to be a part of both its first digital and vinyl releases? Have you got more M.U.D releases planned for the near future?

D: Yeah man, Demon's a top geeza. He got in touch via Fused Forces, I'd been meeting up with them on and off for about a year, swapping beats and they'd been playing them in their mixes. Demon emailed me saying that he'd heard some of my stuff and that Fused Forces had passed on my contact details.

Since then he's become an important part of my music, he knows exactly what works and exactly how to push things in the right direction.

H: Essex isn't a place usually associated with eyes-down, forward-thinking bass music: is there much of a scene for it there? Do you feel like you benefit from your proximity to London as a central hub for this sort of music?

D: No... (laughs) there's nothing. The only good thing to happen to Essex was Scruffy Hoodlum, a monthly night run by Fused Forces & S Dot in Southend. They're booking the right artists at a venue not too dissimilar to FWD: nothing fancy just a dark room with a big chest-pounding system. Other than that I don't think I can name another night in Essex representing dubstep.

I benefit when it comes to going to nights in London, like Fabric or whatever 'cause it's all about a half hour train ride in and you can always get a cheap dodgy cab home. Thing is now though, you don't have to go to London for this music, it's so wide-spread, some of the best producers are from outside of London and some of the best nights are outside of London, take Stink Like Sock in Cambridge .. oooffff..... that place goes off. I'd rather travel to that instead of travelling into London on a friday night for a club with a load of half naked blokes chewing there faces off (laughs).

H: Take us through how you went about putting together the mix you've done for us.

D: For the mix I've used beats by artists that I feel are pushing the sound and production that best represents my perception of dubstep. With my mixes I like to progress through sounds and rhythms, so I started with the more minimal sounds and gradually build into a more rolling style of beat. I feel that a mix should be a journey of sounds, an experience rather than just mixing whatever beats I've got to hand; I tend to pick what beats I feel roll well together to continue 'the journey'.

H: Finally, are there any forthcomings or anything else in the pipeline that you want to put the word out on?

D: As I've said there's no release I can reveal at the moment, but there will be some on their way and also a few remixes popping up over the next few months, so keep an eye out...